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Potsdam Day, also known as theTag von Potsdam orPotsdam Celebration, was a ceremony for the re-opening of theReichstag following theReichstag fire, held on 21 March 1933, shortly after that month'sGerman federal election.
Adolf Hitler andJoseph Goebbels selected the site ofPotsdam, as it was the centre of the oldKingdom of Prussia ofFrederick the Great, as well as theGerman Empire ofOtto von Bismarck. The date was chosen because 21 March 1871 was when the firstReichstag of Imperial Germany opened.[1][2]
Among the attendees wereCrown Prince Wilhelm, guest of honour and representative of theHohenzollern dynasty, and his three surviving brothersPrince Eitel Friedrich andPrince Oskar, bothDer Stahlhelm members, andPrince August Wilhelm, anOberführer in theSA, the Nazi stormtroopers.Prince Adalbert was the only brother who did not attend the ceremony.[3]
Broadcast in its entirety on radio, the festivities began with religious services. Protestant members of the Reichstag, includingChairmanHermann Göring, held services at theChurch of Saint Nicholas presided over byOtto Dibelius. Catholics held services inPeter and Paul Church. Neither Hitler nor Goebbels attended the religious services, instead placing wreaths on the graves of various Nazi "martyrs", includingHorst Wessel,[4] but attended a later state ceremony at theGarrison Church. Speeches were made byReich PresidentPaul von Hindenburg and Hitler, the newReich Chancellor, who had been in office less than two months, after which the two had a solemn handshake, symbolizing the "marriage of the old grandeur and new power". Famously, Hitler, who was dressed in civilian clothes, bowed his head deeply during the handshake with Hindenburg, who was wearing his full military uniform. Hindenburg laid a wreath at the tomb ofFrederick the Great.
Afterwards, parades were held with the participation of theReichswehr, SA,SS, Stahlhelm, and others. Finally the deputies convened the new Reichstag at theKroll Opera House, as the originalReichstag Building had been rendered unusable by the fire.[1] That evening, celebrations ended with atorchlight parade and a performance ofRichard Wagner'sDie Meistersinger von Nürnberg at theBerlin State Opera with Hitler in attendance.[3]
A year later, two- and five-Reichsmark coins showing the church and the date "21 März 1933" were minted. They are not rare, but larger numbers of both denominations were also issued in 1934–1935 without the commemorative date.[5]
